Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

The Ivies by Alexa Donne

10 reviews

ross_emm's review

dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship and Death

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship

Minor: Gaslighting

beckyremillard's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Death, Toxic relationship, Racism, Toxic friendship, Gaslighting, and Grief

Minor: Gun violence

gabriella_l's review

dark mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

i read this book ages ago and i still think about it, amazing plot, twists, and storyline. highly recommend 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Toxic friendship, Death, Emotional abuse, Bullying, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, and Gaslighting

annieslibrary's review

emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Rape, Violence, Murder, Alcohol, Death, Pedophilia, Misogyny, Grief, Gaslighting, Bullying, and Adult/minor relationship

caffeineandcomposition's review

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship and Alcohol

Minor: Pedophilia, Racism, Stalking, Homophobia, and Gaslighting

isabella_ramensky's review

funny mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

So I read this book because of Alexa’s youtube channel and was not disappointed. 

I am a little younger than the girls in this book and go to school in America so I related to them on a lot of levels. College stuff and whatnot. 
A lot of the plot twists were predictable but not in a bad way, in a everything fits together way. And figuring it out was fun. 

I thought some of the slang fell a bit flat. Considering the author is older than her characters it makes sense though. mostly I laughed and cringed a tad when something felt off. only happened a few times though. 



SPOILERS BELOW:

I liked how you still didn’t really know who it was until Olivia found Tyler’s computer. 
On that note though, I got while reading that he mentioned Emma being strangled and it was a little infuriating watching Olivia not notice. I feel like she did that a lot which makes sense as a character thing I guess but still.

Also I ended up loving Avery (which I didn’t expect) even though her getting away unscathed and going to Princeton annoyed me so much. 

I was pretty disappointed in what happened with Ethan. I mean I guess that was the point but I really liked how he and Olivia worked together. I mean he was a little cringy and the Harry Potter line was weird considering the age of the characters. Nobody talks about it super much.

I wasn’t super satisfied with Tyler’s motives and confession either. Not sure why, but something was missing. <spoiler end>

Also, I liked Olivia and the detective’s conversations. 



Overall I really liked this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Cursing, Toxic friendship, Gaslighting, and Death

Moderate: Alcohol, Violence, Racism, and Adult/minor relationship

Minor: Gun violence, Outing, Incest, and Eating disorder

spookystag's review

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Death, and Murder

Moderate: Gaslighting, Adult/minor relationship, and Violence

Minor: Alcohol, Racism, and Sexual content

leslie_overbookedsocialworker's review

dark mysterious reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder, Toxic friendship, and Gaslighting

patandbooks's review

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

I really enjoyed this book! I loved all the Ivies even though they're unlikable, messed up people. They are smart, cunning and brutal. I loved reading about how they sabotaged their competitors, most of the time in the most subtle ways. There was some cringey dialogue but overall, it was a great read. The main character Olivia was great to read from. She's one of the Ivies but she is the most different in status/standing. That last chapter was so great, too. It felt like an authentic ending for Olivia.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Eating disorder, Violence, Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

cepbreed's review

dark funny mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

My love for this book really crept up on me, originally I wasn't into the long exposition and drivel about another classic pack of mean girls but when the action picked up I was fully head over heels. The characters were unlikable and gritty, everyone is a suspect, and no one can be trusted. It falls into so many of those YA mystery novel tropes, but does them well enough to stay interesting. All of this really hit home for me though, and I literally mean home. I live so close to where all of this fictional action is taking place, and my brother is attending one of the cut throat colleges mentioned early on, its insane. Plus I'm a senior this year so admissions are my current hell.

Why try and redeem Avery at all? It would've been much better leaving her as a completely irredeemable bitch instead of changing her character to help the one-note-poor-girl MC. She was meant to be bad, they all were, even the MC, so I felt no remorse for any (minimal) consequences they received.

Songs: 

• Bang Bang Bang Bang - Sohodolls
• Are You Satisfied? - Marina and the Diamonds
• Teacher’s Pet - Melanie Martinez 
• Boarding School - Lana Del Rey (unreleased)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Infidelity, Misogyny, Racism, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Gun violence, Homophobia, and Incest